Home prices up 19 percent in past year

Home prices in the United States have risen 19 percent from last year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

In September, the price of homes was up 19.1 percent compared to Sept. 2020, according to the index, The Associated Press reported. 

Prices rose significantly in all 20 cities included in the index over that period. The biggest increase was in Phoenix, at 33.1 percent. 

Cities in Florida also saw substantial gains, with housing prices in Tampa increasing by 27.7 percent and in Miami by 25.2 percent.

Prices in Midwestern cities rose more modestly, though still significantly, with Chicago and Minneapolis reporting the lowest gains in the index at 11.8 percent and 12.9 percent, respectively.

All 15 other cities in the index also saw double digit gains. 

The increases are slightly smaller than those reported in August, which saw a gain in home prices of 19.6 percent when compared with the same point in 2020, according to the AP. 

“Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly,” Craig Lazzara, the managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said.

“We have previously suggested that the strength in the U.S. housing market is being driven by households’ reaction to the COVID pandemic, as potential buyers move from urban apartments to suburban homes,” he added.